Lorega residents junk cell site

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Council committee on transportation and communication is now looking into the concern raised by residents of barangay Lorega-San Miguel over the construction of a cell site in the barangay.

Many residents are opposing the construction of the cell site for fear that the same would be a health hazard.

But Edgardo Albay, representative of Smart Telecommunications, assured that the company would do its best that the antenna it would install on top of a building along Echavez Street would not in any way harm the residents in the area. 

Many residents expressed fear that the cell site would emit radiation that can damage their health, but Darrin Casipong of the Department of Health said there is no basis for these fears.

Casipong said that although they emit radiation called radio frequency fields, the cell site tower antennas, like those being used by the radio and television stations, are classified as non-ionizing, thus, do not cause radioactivity in the body, unlike those classified as ionizing.

He explained that the kind of radiation that can cause health hazard to the human body are those emitted by X-ray machines and other similar medical equipment because they emit certain level of ions, which causes radioactivity in the body and can further cause harmful effects.

But Casipong said although the cell site may not cause health hazard to those persons residing near the antenna tower, they might experience abnormal temperature or heat radiation from the equipment.

Casipong said there is yet no proof that those living near a cell site or antenna tower of a telecommunications company experience health problems.

The standard safety distance of the tower as prescribed by the DOH is 4.2 meters-away from the people and the Smart tower would reportedly be constructed 26 meters-away from the ground.

Optometrist Billy Jaca, a resident of the place, said he could show some statistics that there are persons harmed by radiation caused by cell sites, but Casipong quickly said the same should be validated first with DOH. — Rene U. Borromeo/JMO      (THE FREEMAN)